It has taken 21 months for the “smoking gun” photos to emerge of the conversation between Christopher Pryde and the ousted attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, that triggered Pryde’s suspension as DPP. But here they are – obtained by Grubsheet the best part of two years later and when there is still no judicial Tribunal hearing to test the charge of misbehaviour against the man who is still the DPP.
The date is the evening of February 28, 2023. The setting, a reception at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to which both men had been invited. Christopher Pryde maintains that it was a chance encounter. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum approached him and because a police file on the ousted AG had yet to reach him personally for any decision to prosecute, Pryde says he saw no reason to “ghost” him – to turn his back on him and leave, something that might also have offended his Japanese hosts.
According to both men, the conversation was unremarkable and mainly about each other’s families. There was nothing clandestine about the encounter. Indeed a wider frame of the same photo below clearly shows the former president of the Republic, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, on the far left. (back to camera in pink and black “bula” shirt)
It is, in fact, the photos themselves that were clandestine, taken by a government informant against the express wishes of the Japanese Embassy, which had prescribed a strict “no photos” policy. Christopher Pryde says he left the function without giving it a second thought. Alas, he had unwittingly provided the then Attorney General, Siromi Turaga, and the Acting Chief Justice and Head of the Judicial Services Commission, Salesi Temo, with the ammunition they believed they needed to get rid of him mid-contract in the wake of the 2022 election.
A few days later, Siromi Turaga summoned Christopher Pryde to his office in Suvavou House and presented him with the evidence of his encounter with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. According to the DPP, the then AG told him that provided he wrote a letter of apology, that would be the end of the matter.
It was a trap. With a “confession” under Pryde’s own letterhead, Salesi Temo – the head of the JSC – advised the President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, to suspended the DPP for misbehaviour. And that suspension occurred on April 13, 2023, an astonishing 19 months ago.
So this is how this extraordinary saga began and while it still doesn’t have an ending, you can judge for yourself, Fiji, whether you think these photos – the first and principal charge against the DPP – constitute misbehaviour when both men say they didn’t discuss any police case against Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the conversation didn’t go beyond family matters.
There certainly doesn’t appear to be anything furtive about the discussion when the former president, Ratu Epeli, is within sight and had reportedly just greeted both men. And the body language certainly lends weight to Christopher Pryde’s contention that the ousted AG approached him and he was merely being polite.
Yet this has been enough to nail the DPP – to have him suspended for 19 months and counting because Siromi Turaga and Salesi Temo maintain that it was inappropriate for him to be in the presence of Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum while there was the prospect that Christopher Pryde might soon have to make a decision whether to charge Khaiyum. Not that he was actually in the process of deciding whether to prosecute but that the results of a police investigation would eventually land on his desk.
Incredibly, Siromi Turaga had no problem 17 months later appearing in a photograph himself with the Deputy DPP, John Rabuku, and the FICAC Commissioner, Barbara Malimali, when Rabuku was ACTIVELY investigating Malimali and had referred the FICAC investigation into her for alleged abuse of office as Electoral Commission Chair to the police for further action.
This certainly suggests one rule for Christopher Pryde – who claims he was wrongly suspended for political reasons – and quite another for John Rabuku and Barbara Malimali – who were photographed socially with Siromi Turaga when Malimali was under active investigation and John Rabuku was carrying out that investigation. Or to put it crudely, one rule for the white goose associated with the “old order” and another for the Coalition’s two little black ducks.
Certainly, the Opposition leader, Inia Seruiratu, recognised the glaring double standards and called for John Rabuku and Barbara Malimali to be suspended in the same way as Christopher Pryde. But that call has been ignored – just one of the extraordinary breaches of normal conduct that have taken place throughout this saga.
For an entire year, the “smoking gun” photos of Christopher Pryde with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum that we publish today were the sole evidence of alleged misbehaviour against him. But on April 16, 2024, Pryde was informed of a second charge against him – that he had paid himself superannuation without the approval of the JSC.
Grubsheet understands that the DPP has explained that any superannuation payments to him were an extension of those already paid to him in his previous role as solicitor general and there is evidently hard evidence to this effect.
Repeated reports have since reached Grubsheet of government investigators combing through the ODPP and other agencies looking for fresh evidence of misbehaviour against Christopher Pryde. And the continuing delays in the JSC concluding its evidence for the Tribunal hearing certainly lend weight to the notion that the State doesn’t believe it has enough to secure a win and ward off the nightmare scenario, for them, of the DPP’s suspension being lifted and him striding back into Gunu House.
Yet the most obvious sign of desperation has been the unilateral decision to suspend Christopher Pryde’s salary so that he no longer has the means to properly defend himself. How else to explain the JSC’s decision to keep him suspended on full pay for 15 months and then suddenly cut him off without a saqamoli just as the Tribunal hearing finally approaches?
The decision smacks not only of vindictiveness but a crude attempt to send the DPP broke so that he has no choice but to resign and walk away. And it is a shocking instance of the State abusing its power for political purposes and denying a senior officer of state even the most basic natural justice.
It prompted Christopher Pryde to appeal to the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, for assistance – a request Peters denied saying this was an employment matter between a NZ citizen and the Fiji government and he had no role. But the letter to Winston Peters that the DPP released to the media contains a valuable – and devastating – timeline of the comprehensive attempt to destroy him.
The President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, has directed that the Tribunal of three judges led by Justice Anare Tuilevuka report to him by December 23 but where this leaves Christopher Pryde without the income he needs to keep paying his counsel, Adish Narayan, isn’t clear.
The DPP is a man with an unblemished record who has suffered an appalling injustice – a fact recognised by no less than the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka.
Rabuka made national headlines back in July by saying that the DPP is entitled to be paid until such time as his services are terminated. Yet four months on, nothing has happened to restore his salary. And Christopher Pryde has had his ability to defend himself cut from beneath him.
Repeated approaches to the JSC have been ignored. So the outlaw Salesi Temo is not only willing to deprive the DPP of his ability to fight this case but is prepared to humiliate the Prime Minister, who having come to Christopher Pryde’s side in July, has since gone silent.
What other explanation can there be but that Sitiveni Rabuka has become a willing accessory to a shocking denial of justice and a full-blown assault on the integrity of the criminal justice system in Fiji?
It is a national disgrace and a searing indictment of the Coalition’s “New Order”. And a lesson to any outsider contemplating serving in any official capacity in Fiji that the Coalition simply cannot be trusted to honour contracts or operate within the law.
NOTE:
Grubsheet invites the Fijian mainstream media to give substance to its claim to be free by publishing the photos of Christopher Pryde and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
They are genuine and there is no requirement to credit Grubsheet as the source.
If the Bangladeshi workers were abused, so is Pryde. Let that sink in. Abuse is abuse.
Fiji is abusing this man and stealing his income and dignity off him. It is not a right thing to do. This is migrant worker abuse at the highest order and nothing less.
The judiciary in this country is so dangerous that it should serve as a warning to any person wanting to work here. This country doesn’t safeguard the rights of workers. Think 10 times if you are an expatriate. Their cells are ridden with rat feaces and drunk people. It is an inhumane country with inhumane leaders.
GD, I am assuming that Pryde is still the DPP of Fiji? Because others carry the Acting role still? I hope this case reaches the ears of ILO and how Fiji treats its migrant worker population.
Why is Pryde denied a hearing Ratu Wiliame? Get your fat arse into action before you leave the throne to the useless child pedo.
Yes, Christopher Pryde is still the DPP.
I thought so he was still the DPP. Over 21 months and no solution to this issue yet. Fiji is just a rat hole of a country.
So the President of Fiji who is allegedly responsible for fraudulent practices, according to Rabuka, is still the President of Fiji. Take note of that Fiji! This is what Rabuka told us as the reason why Rt Wiliame wasn’t renominated for the presidency role.
Yet Pryde is an honest man and has no legs to stand on. That photo means nothing when it is seen in the bigger scheme of closeness of others in the room.
Give us all a break Rabuka and co. We are tired of these idiots running this country into Mexico. I wouldn’t dare take a single assignment to this country till there is better leadership. Telling others to do the same.
I suspect the December JSC won’t happen. The excuse will be that they’re busy getting things ready for the new pedophile president, and this sitting will get deferred. Again.
It’s definitely the Animal Farm in Fiji with the pigs successfully having taken over.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
The iTaukei are special. This is “their” land after all. So the vulagi laws do not apply to them – well only when it is appropriate and on a selective basis.
They are above the vulagis and the vulagis should be grateful that they have been allowed in the country in the first place.
And who are the vulagi to criticise the appointment of a pedo, racist and convicted criminal to be President? This is their country so who and why are the vulagi interfering in their internal matters?
It was a witch hunt. It always was.
An abuse of power, full of bias and racism by one man. Let’s face it – there is no justice in Fiji, there is no integrity.
There is manipulation, collusion, deceit, plenty of turning a blind eye to bad behaviour, theft masked as entitlement and plenty of injustice by the ruling elite.
Great example to lead by. Our children have such excellent role models (sic).
Sadly, this is a country that will never move forward. Successive leaders chose for Fiji to stand in the poverty line begging for handouts. I am no longer proud of being a citizen of Fiji.
I hold shame simply by association of being Fijian.
Christopher Pryde, and every person like him (so many stories never see the light of day) who has been victimised and ostracised and had their name and reputation smeared, has unwittingly had a lucky escape. A cruel and unjust lesson but a lucky escape from having to deal with the many narcissists who weild this power.
Breaking news. Frank has been released from prison.
Yes, a relief for his family and supporters but what political difference will it make? Maybe he’ll still have influence with the Group of 16 and he’ll have plenty to say to the traitors in the Group of 9. But I suspect the political consequences will be limited in the short term beyond Frank being out and about and being seen.
Watch as they pile more charges on him. As I understand it, there are multiple charges in the pipeline and they intend to tie him up in knots for a very long time.
He is likely to be greeted very warmly by those who still appreciate what he did to level the playing field in Fiji – the common and equal citizenry and the common identity for starters.
Frank is certainly head and shoulders above Sitiveni Rabuka as a national leader and hands up who is now nostalgic for the best days of FijiFirst?
FBs downfall was giving too much power to ASK and listening to him too much. He could still be in power if he hadn’t done that.
And Fiji would be a better place today.
He had other better avenues to get advice from like the Military Council, political advisors in the civil service, media advisors etc. But he chose to listen to ASK alone.
ASK did some good things, but I think the power got to his head and started acting like a mafia don.
Totally killed Bainimarama’s original vision for a better Fiji.
And now we are stuck with these bunch (I won’t even call them leaders) and we are going backwards very fast.
And it appears that when Naiqama is installed as President, Pryde will definitely be terminated.
Then that will be the same breach of the Constitution that Frank and Aiyaz committed when they sacked Sharvada Sharma as solicitor general. If the new government wants to demonstrate that it is as bad as the last, then go ahead. But it has already lost public support and it will have no credibility at all if it emulates FijiFirst in disregarding the supreme law.
BTW, they still haven’t paid Sharvada Sharma the money he was awarded by a judge when he found that he had been unlawfully terminated. That’s the Coalition for you. Cheating, lying, hypocritical bastards with not a skerrick of decency or respect for our institutions of state.
So with the picture of Turaga, Rabuku and Malimali together while there are “investigating” each other, will there be a Board of Inquiry before any action is taken or are there a different set of laws which apply to them just because they are iTaukei?
Or is it the case that laws do not apply at all to people in their own land?
I think vulagis are the cause of all the problems in Fiji. Just ask the iTaukei. If it wasn’t for the vulagi, the country would have surpassed Singapore, because God is on the side of the natives and with all these foreign Gods, the Christian God is not happy.
Oops, I almost forgot, the Christian God is also a vulagi God.
I hope Fijians are able to grow their own people slowly in these prestigious DPP posts. But only those who hold merits to do so.
It is a shame what we have in the office of the DPP now. “Cleansing ethnicities other than i-taukei” has backfired. It has been a dangerous period for Fiji and one that many are watching closely. I heard university students abroad were using Fiji as their case study! What else would make us so proud of our DPP, illegally appointed Deputy DPP Rabuku, questions over Tikoisuva, and what hangs over CJ and AG. Perfect case study for abuse of office it is.
Graham Leung pontificating in today’s media about “lawyers wet behind the ears allowed to practice and unleashed on unsuspecting public. He further claims that the quality of some of these lawyers left a lot to be desired. What a hypocrite. He should look at the CJ, Malimali, DPP. The judiciary is a fish rotting from the head. Graham is the head of the rotting fish. He is a failure as AG.
The whole government is rotten from the inside. But they are so proud that they have wrested the country back from the vulagi. That is more important than the lawlessness within government.
The vulagi must be kept out at all costs, even if they need to be openly hypocrites.
This effing Graham Leung not only thinks the sun shines out of his (worn n weary?) crevice, but that we the Fiji public are stupid. The bloody condescending attitude is nauseating 🤮. Graham Davis I don’t suppose you are too proud to share the same name. This needs your sharp pen to bring the bugger down to earth.
Good idea. How about Monday? Got something else tomorrow worth looking out for.
You just made my night. Can’t wait till Monday. No one like GD to bring down hypocrites a notch or two.
Got a passport? Get on the plane and bid Fiji farewell. Vulagis will never ever get to lead this nation. That’s the truth!